Brexit &
the Wall
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s
capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the
magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence they
were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This
note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be
guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory
note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this
sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check
which has come back marked insufficient funds.
But we refuse to believe that the bank of
justice is bankrupt. We refuse to
believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of
this nation.
-
MLK, I Have a Dream
By:
JM Hamilton (1-27-2019)
A
person can learn a great deal about one's own government by observing other
governments around the globe. The UK Tory government, presently led by PM
May, not only provides a basis of comparison, but echoes many of the problems
Americans see w/in their own government. Namely, how the legislative body
- in the UK, the Parliament, and the US, the Congress - consistently fails the
people.
If
we study the Brexit phenomenon - the truest form of a democracy, whereby the
British people voted to stay in or out of the EU, via referendum - and Parliament's
subsequent reaction, and ongoing behavior - we see similar parallels w/ our own
US Congress.
The
British government has torn itself inside out over the referendum, where a
majority of the UK's citizens voted to leave the EU. Tories, like
Republicans & Establishment Dems, typically align themselves w/ banks, big
business, neoliberalism, and globalism.
But Brexit and the ongoing wave of populism - seen throughout the West –
have turned that dynamic on its head. To such an extent that when May
entered power, shortly after the referendum, we saw the Prime Minister attacking the BOE (the Bank of England, the US equivalent is the Federal Reserve), as aiding the banks and the wealthy, post 2008 banking crash, at
the expense of ordinary British citizens. Observers also saw the PM recommend
several populist themes, not the least of which was placing labor representation on corporate and multinational boards. More recently, PM May announced that government austerity - at the expense of the 99% - was dead.
Amazing what one simple referendum can do to shake up the establishment. The
subsequent gridlock - since the referendum in 2016 - arrives from two
corners: The EU elites are hell bent on making the UK's exit, or Brexit, from
the European Union as painful as possible (and in the process, the EU
aristocracy is confirming the very reason why those British, who voted to
leave, did so); and the second source of gridlock is the UK Parliament, itself.
Here, the Parliament doesn't quite know what it wants. The House of Commons can either cave into the
demands of the EU & UK elites - big banks, The City, multinationals, etc. - and defy
the referendum (that is, do a deal w/ the EU on the EU's terms); or it can quit
the EU Customs Union cold turkey, what is often referred to as a hard Brexit
(that is to say, honor the referendum, since the EU refuses to negotiate in good faith).
Does
the UK Parliament then respect the wishes of the donor class - the elites, or
does it honor democracy and the vox
populi? One thing is certain, the House of Commons has no idea of
what the solution should be, and probably resents, greatly, being put in this
predicament by the proceeding Tory government.
Of course, the UK elites would have never voted to leave the EU, which defines crony-capitalism.
And
this is where what is happening in the UK is quite instructive, as to why the
US Congress seemingly is found w/in a permanent stasis.
Note,
all the happy talk of reining in the Bank of England is gone; note, the
populist reforms originally suggested by the May government, like labor
representation on corporate boards, gone. Austerity... still alive and very much well in the UK, except for the welfare handed out to The City, and
the banks, and the well-to-do continue unabated. If you think banking
deregulation is a problem in the United States, you should see what goes on in
London (but - hand it to the Brits - at least London will place bank CEOs on trial for their crimes).
Where is JMH going with this: Parliament - intentionally or unintentionally -
likely the former - has allowed Brexit to suck all the oxygen out of the House
of Commons. It seems that Brexit, for the House of Commons, has become an
excuse to do nothing. What of the issues that drove British citizens to
vote for Brexit in the first place (?): wage & wealth inequality; the
complete lack of opportunity or possibility for upward mobility w/in British
society; open borders that suppress wages; and the rigged system that favors
the elite and the financial aristocracy?
The Parliament is no where to be found, and of course, we'd expect this from the Conservative Party in power, the Tories.
The Parliament is no where to be found, and of course, we'd expect this from the Conservative Party in power, the Tories.
See
the parallels yet? We just went through two years of our own ultra-conservative US government,
where Republicans dominated all four branches of government, including the Federal
Reserve. And the rich got richer, and the only thing the Republican led Congress did was
pass tax cuts for the wealthy, and stack the federal judiciary w/ right-wing
politicians wearing black robes. It's almost as if the legislative branch of both the UK and US governments are no longer coequal but subservient to their
respective executive branches, party leaders, and the donor class. It's almost as if
gridlock - or the crisis du jour, be it Brexit or presently in the states, the government shutdown & the wall - is a get out of jail card for the legislative body to do absolutely nothing. And what role does the MSM play in all this?
Interestingly,
per ballotpedia.org, the 116th Congress, headed up by Speaker Pelosi, is expected to be in session less time than the 115th Congress, headed up by Speaker
Ryan. That’s so the Congress can spend
more time raising money. What are we
paying these people for? Oh, that's
right, their government salaries are chicken feed compared to the money
received by their true paymasters, the oligarchy.
There
are 330 Conservative Party members in the lower house of Parliament; and in the
US House of Representatives, there are 235 Democrats. It's almost as if these Parliamentarians
and Representatives have never heard of the division of labor, or empowering
committees to bring legislation to the floor, post-haste. These legislative
bodies appear too fearful or timid to make laws for the benefit of the
people. Then again, K-Street isn’t
likely to support a people’s agenda, and it is K-Street lobbyist who write a great deal of the legislation passed by Congress anyway.
And
who benefits most from the status quo, the rigged system, the capture of the UK
and US governments, particularly the legislative bodies?
Here's
a hint, they were all at Davos last week.
And
just like PM May's happy - populist talk, there's been a great deal of happy
talk among Dems about catching up w/ their electorate, which has, allegedly,
shifted left in short order.
So
just as Brexit sucked the energy out of Parliament, the POTUS's and House
Speaker's bitter feud - over the government shutdown and the wall – appears to
have sucked the life out of the American people's agenda and the US congress.
At
this point, if the Dems truly were interested in championing the people -
instead of serving the donor class - they'd walk and chew gum at the same time.
They'd fight Trump's wall, but they'd also pass and send a raft of
legislation over to the Senate, and humiliate the Senate Republicans for not
passing same. There is so much low hanging political fruit - policy positions the
American people support, overwhelmingly - that, if House
Dems acted, it would likely all but certify the 2020 POTUS as a Democrat.
Glad
you asked: For starters, the majority of Americans support a Green New Deal and renewable energy; a majority of US citizens support ending credit card wars in the Middle East (where's the revised AUMF?); a majority support raising taxes on the super-wealthy (but I guess that would mean raising taxes on
Speaker Pelosi and many other congresspersons, unless they exempted themselves);
where's the federal legislation to protect women's reproductive rights, and gay
rights (again, supported by the majority of Americans); and the House bill
backing America’s support for a higher minimum wage? Wasn't Chuck & Nancy, and Dem leadership, highly supportive of reining in cartels and monopolies... or was that all campaign BS?
Crickets.
(That’s
because the Dem Establishment does not want to acknowledge the failure of Clintonian economic & foreign policies --–
that is, globalism, neoliberalism, and the embrace of Silicon Valley & Wall
Street, as well as, its ongoing & present love affair w/ the Deep State
& endless credit card wars --- for what they are, political
malpractice. Instead, Dem eminentos are betting the farm that the
Trump campaign’s Russian ties will vindicate - or at least distract from - years of failing forty percent of Americans, and one in five children. And
given the POTUS’ level of popularity that might be a winning Dem strategy for
2020. But if the Dems enter power then, w/ the same set of sadistic GOP-Lite
policies, including mass incarceration - until relatively recently, a Dem establishment
favorite - the new Dem emperor will quickly be found out as wearing, yet again, no clothes. Calls for “hope” – backed by no
political action, from our elected politicians – only work once.)
Americans increasingly believe they have a right to health and affordable healthcare, and
the Constitution says as much (something about unalienable rights to: life,
liberty, and happiness). If nothing
else, perhaps, the push for Medicare for All will finally encourage private
sector healthcare interests to clean up their act. America has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, and yet, life expectancy is in decline.
If
the Speaker wants to engage in a power play w/ the POTUS (aka biz as usual w/in
Washington) - a president who will do anything to distract from the Mueller
probe, and solidify his base of support - that's fine.... go at it, but at
least take care of the American people along the way. I know, the Speaker
has only been in power a matter of weeks; but if past is prologue (this is Nancy’s
second go as House leader), don’t expect a burst of energy, or a surge of
progressive legislation under Pelosi’s stewardship. The ACA, premised upon a right-wing think tank's white paper, and bailing out Wall Street banks - Speaker Pelosi's signature achievements, to date - are not exactly what one would call advancing FDR's cause.
Speaker Pelosi is the establishment, as POTUS Trump found out this week.
If
the energy level we've seen from the 116th Congress, so far, is what we can
expect over the next 23 months, what's going to happen when hearings on the
POTUS begin in earnest?
Answer:
Absolutely nothing. Progressive initiatives and legislation will
stall. The Dem establishment will, likely, show their true colors once
again - at least under present management - and the donor class will be pleased.
Speaker
Pelosi all but guaranteed this, when she doubled down on pay-go as one of her
very first official acts; that is to say, another round of
austerity for the American people, as well as, continued and record rates of
low taxation for the uber wealthy (best illustrated by examining the tax tables from
the 1950s forward). Of course, I really hope the Speaker surprises, and proves me wrong on all this.
In
short, the more than likely, lack of House-driven progressive initiatives and legislation maybe
by design, w/ gridlock being utilized as an excuse for House Dems to not even try. If you need another example of a
comatose – money sucking - legislative body, too fearful to act, just examine
the House of Commons from across the pond.
Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing
2019